Windows Server 2019 Administration Fundamentals

A beginner's guide to managing and administering Windows Server environments, 2nd Edition

Bekim Dauti

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781838552008
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Operating Systems
• Index: Computer Science

Deploy, set up, and deliver network services with Windows Server 2019, and prepare for the MTA 98-365 exam

Key Features

• Get started with server installation, performance monitoring, and server maintenance
• Develop the skills necessary to manage an enterprise environment
• Implement networking and security best practices in your Windows Server environment

Book Description

Windows Server 2019 is the server operating system introduced by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems, developed concurrently with Windows 10. This book will not only get you started with Windows Server 2019, but will also help you prepare for the MTA 98-365 exam. With step-by-step instructions and easy-to-understand graphics, you will become well-versed with the roles, features, and functions of Windows Server 2019.

Starting with the installation process, upgrades, and basic configuration, you will move on to explore roles and features such as Active Directory, Hyper-V, remote access, storage, and printers. The book then takes you through maintenance and troubleshooting tasks to guide you in efficiently managing Windows Server 2019. In addition, it covers Windows Server 2019 best practices using real-world examples. Complete with questionnaires, and detailed answers at the end of the book, you can test your understanding of the concepts covered in each chapter.

By the end of this book, you will be equipped with the knowledge you need to troubleshoot, update, and maintain servers so as to ensure business continuity.

What you will learn

• Grasp the fundamentals of Windows Server 2019
• Understand how to deploy Windows Server 2019
• Discover Windows Server post-installation tasks
• Add roles to your Windows Server environment
• Apply Windows Server 2019 GPOs to your network
• Delve into virtualization and Hyper-V concepts
• Explore ways to tune, maintain, update, and troubleshoot Windows Server 2019
• Study relevant concepts in preparation for the MTA 98-365 exam

Who this book is for

If you are a system administrator or an IT professional who wants to deploy and configure Windows Server 2019, this book is for you. You can also use this as a reference guide for the MTA: Windows Server Administration Fundamentals: 98-365 exam.

Section 1: Introducing Windows Server and Installing Windows Server 2019

The first section covers Windows Server, in general, and Windows Server 2019, in particular. It also covers the installation of Windows Server 2019. Upon the completion of this section, you will have enough knowledge about Windows Server in general, and Windows Server 2019 in particular. Additionally, you will be able to clean install, upgrade, and migrate to Windows Server 2019, as well as be able to complete network and unattended installation too.

This section comprises the following chapters:

• Chapter 1, Getting Started with Windows Server
• Chapter 2, Introducing Windows Server 2019
• Chapter 3, Installing Windows Server 2019
• Chapter 4, Post-Installation Tasks in Windows Server 2019

Getting started with Windows Server

This chapter is designed to provide you with an introduction to Windows Server in general, and Windows Server 2019 in particular. Windows Server 2019, the newest version of the Microsoft OS for servers, is the follow-up to Windows Server 2016. Besides introducing Windows Server, right at the beginning of this chapter, you will find an overview of the very basic concepts of computer networks. This chapter is organized into two parts; each part provides a concise but complete description of these concepts.

Definitions such as hosts, nodes, peer-to-peer, and clients/servers are covered in the Understanding Computer Network section. Windows Server 2019 is covered in the Understanding Servers Windows Server Overview section. Finally, once you are acquainted with the essentials of Windows Server in general and Windows Server 2019, in particular, through chapter exercise you will have the option to download Windows Server 2019 and create an installation media.

The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

• Understanding computer networks
• Understanding servers
• Understanding Windows Server
• Chapter exercise—downloading Windows Server 2019

Technical requirements

In order to complete the exercise in this chapter, you will need the following equipment:

• A PC with Windows 10 Pro, at least 16 GB of RAM, 1 TB of HDD, and access to the internet

Understanding computer networks

It all began many years ago when the need for sharing resources became a necessity. As time went by and demands increased, the development and advancement of computer network technologies also took place. With that, more computers were connected to computer networks and geographical distances were diminished in terms of communication. It created a need for well-defined terms and concepts to describe computer networking. Because of that, different types of computer networks, network topologies, architectures, and components have emerged.

Let's begin by understanding what a computer network is.

What is a computer network?

From my experience, people often confuse what a computer network is with what a computer network does. While the first explains what constitutes a computer network, the latter shows the benefits of a computer network. In Figure 1.1 we can see that a computer network is a group of computers connected to each other in order to share resources. The resources are usually data, network services, and peripheral devices:

Figure 1.1: A typical computer network

A computer network is divided into different types. Let's take a look at each of them individually.

Types of computer networks

In general, the categorization of computer networks consists of the area they cover and the purpose they serve. Some of the most popular types of computer networks nowadays are described in the following subsections.

Personal Area Network (PAN)

A Personal Area Network (Figure 1.2) is a computer network that is used to connect and transmit data among devices located in a private area that is partially or completely protected from external access. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are the most common communication technologies used to interconnect devices in a PAN. Often, a PAN is also known as a Home Area Network (HAN):

Figure 1.2: A PAN

Another type of network is local area network (LAN). However its coverage is far greater than a PAN. Let's learn more about it next section.

LAN

A LAN (Figure 1.3) is a computer network that connects two or more computers in a local area. Try to understand a local area as one single room, a floor, several floors, a building, or several buildings adjacent to each other at a distance that Ethernet communication technology permits. A LAN usually utilizes a central device that uses twisted pair, coaxial, or fiber optic cables as a networking media to interconnect computers:

Figure 1.3: A LAN

The next type of network that we are going to look at is the Metropolitan Area Network (MAN).Its coverage is even greater than a LAN.

MAN

In contrast to a LAN, a MAN (Figure 1.4) represents a group of LANs interconnected within the geographical boundary of a town or city. Nowadays, fiber optics and gigabit layer 3 switches are used to interconnect LANs and route the traffic among them, as seen in the following figure:

Figure 1.4: A Metropolitan Area Network

Finally, we will understand what is a wide area network (WAN) which has the greatest coverage.

WAN

Unlike a MAN, a WAN (as shown in Figure 1.5) is a computer network that covers a wide geographic area using dedicated telecommunication lines such as telephone lines, leased lines, or satellites. WANs cover large geographic areas and, as such, they do not have geographic restrictions. The internet is the best example of a WAN:

Figure 1.5: A Wide Area Network

Now that we've understood the different types of computer networks, let's take a look...